Peninsula Clarion - Community

Former Soldotna resident Pvt. Jacob David Coreson, right, is shown above in this Sept. 21 photo in Kuwait with his second cousin, Major Keith Besherse. The reunion was a surprise and Coreson was called out of ranks so their photo could be taken. Coreson joined the Army in February and graduated from basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., as a combat engineer. Additional training took him to Fort Irwin, Calif. and Fort Riley, Kan., before deploying to the Middle East. Coreson is the son of Rob and Kim Coreson and brother to Jonathan, Thomas and Christopher Coreson. He is the grandson of Ken and Patty Coreson of Oregon and Mervyn and Dianna Jones of Washington. Besherse has served in the military for 16 years and is an aviation officer with the G3/4/5 Movements PR and A2C2 25 Infantry Division in Camp Buehring, Kuwait and is qualified to fly the UH-1 Huey, OH-58A/C Scout and the UH-60 Blackhawk. He is stationed out of Hawaii, where he lives with his wife and son.Both men are currently serving tours of duty in Iraq.